About

The Jon R. Tuttle Journalism and Production Minority Internship

Jon R. Tuttle was one of Oregon's most respected broadcast journalists, who passed away in 1991. In honor of his memory OPB established the Jon R. Tuttle Minority Internship in 1994 to encourage future generations of compassionate broadcasters and journalists. The internship will enable an outstanding student to spend the summer studying the field, full-time, in a hands-on environment.

Eligibility

The applicant must have racial and/or ethnic origins as defined by the EEOC (American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or two or more races).

The internship will be awarded to an applicant who is enrolled at a college, university or community college as at least a junior (or equivalent) or an applicant who has graduated in the past year.

Student is available to work 40 hours per week, typically on weekdays during business hours with some exceptions.

Selection and Awards

Applicants should have a strong interest in journalism or production (radio, tv, online).

Applicants must prepare an essay (not more than 250 words) describing their professional goals and how this internship will help advance them.

Instructions

Previous Tuttle Interns

Since 1994, Oregon Public Broadcasting has had the honor of awarding this internship to a myriad of outstanding students who have gone on to pursue their academic and professional goals. After completing the Jon R. Tuttle Internship, interns have gone on to graduate school, roles as associate producers for public radio or TV stations, jobs at other organizations in technical and international productions, and more.

“I've worked in television news and production full time since 1979. Jon Tuttle was the best writer I encountered in all those years (and that includes the network correspondents from NBC.) I asked Jon to teach me his secrets to good writing but he really couldn't. I had the basic skills that can be taught but Jon had that something extra. His writing sounded easy. It was easy to read and it was easy to understand. But it sure wasn't easy to write like that. Jon's words sounded organic like they were meant to be. He just knew how to tell a story.

The other thing I liked about Jon is he didn't like chasing after news stories. He was out front doing the stories that would make the news later when the politicians or the courts got involved. For instance, his documentary “All about You” predicted the loss of privacy and risk of identity theft in the coming information age. This was before most people had home computers and the internet barely existed.

Jon did have one fault as a reporter. He wasn't good at math. He'd always bring me the figures, percentages, numbers, etc. to check. But that's a good skill to have too &emdash; knowing when you don't know.”